Medico-Legal experience

• Worked for the General Medical Council for 6 years, providing expert opinion to the GMC in emergency surgery, oesophago-gastric cancer surgery, gall bladder disease, and robotic surgery. Covering over 25 cases.
• Completed MediLaw’s 2 day Expert Witness Training accredited by the Royal Society of Medicine.
• First-hand experience of litigation and court processes
• Acted as principal expert witness for the defence in a case that proceeded to a court hearing (successful outcome)
• Familiar with court procedures, expert witness duties, and the preparation of medico-legal reports

Surgical experience

• Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust since 2009
• Clinical practice focused on emergency surgery and upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery
• Benign work includes complex elective upper GI work, mainly laparoscopic and robotic, including Heller’s myotomy for achalasia, giant hiatus hernias, GIST resections, cholecystectomy, and all types of hernia surgery. 
• Extensive experience in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery
• Early adoption of robotic oesophagectomy, as lead of one of the first UK units to implement this approach
• Significant experience in laparoscopic emergency surgery, with national recognition of unit outcomes
• Regular presentation and publication of surgical outcomes at national level
• Expertise in gall bladder disease, with over 2,500 cholecystectomies performed,
• Particular expertise in bile duct exploration, both laparoscopic and robotic
• Active involvement in the development and implementation of urgent cholecystectomy pathways

Education and training

• Studied Medicine at St John’s College and Green College, University of Oxford
• Qualified in Medicine in 1994
• Served as a Medical Officer in the Royal Navy for 20 years, including deployments on submarines and ships, retiring in 2012 as a Surgeon Commander
• Completed higher surgical training in Plymouth and the Wessex region
• Undertook Fellowship training at St Mary’s Hospital, London
• Completed Fellowship training at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London